A 20-year-old off-duty sheriff's deputy shot and killed six people at an early-morning party before dying under circumstances that remained officially under wraps Sunday night, officials said.

Forest County Sheriff's Deputy Tyler Peterson, who also worked part-time as a Crandon police officer, stormed into a home where a party was going on and opened fire, friends of the victims told CNN.

School Superintendent Richard Peters told The Associated Press that three local high school students were killed and another three who died had graduated within the past year.

After a manhunt lasting several hours, Peterson was tracked down by his fellow officers.

"There are six deceased inside that residence," Police Chief John Dennee told reporters. "The subject was located by law enforcement officers. The subject is deceased and is no longer a threat to the public."

Dennee would not say how Peterson died. But Crandon Mayor Gary Bradley said the assailant had been brought down by a sniper, AP reported.

Neither Dennee nor Sheriff Keith Van Cleve would discuss details of the shootings or identify the victims, but friends said an ex-girlfriend of Peterson's was among the dead. Police remained at the home well into Sunday night.

Dennee told AP the victims were having "a pizza and movie party." Video Watch how the small town is handling the shock of the shooting.

Bud Evans, an elder at Praise Chapel Community Church, told CNN that one other person wounded in the shooting survived but was undergoing surgery Sunday night.

A survivor of the shooting was in critical condition Sunday night, and a Crandon police officer was treated for minor injuries, according to AP.

"I don't want to believe it. I'm waiting for somebody to wake me up," said Jenny Stahl, the mother of 14-year-old victim Lindsey Stahl.

Stahl said Sunday night that she had not yet seen her daughter's body and was still hoping that police had made a mistake identifying her.

The shootings took place about 2:45 a.m. at a home in Crandon, a town of about 2,000 people 220 miles north of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The town's schools will be closed Monday, with grief counselors available to students, Superintendent Richard Peters said.

"This was the kind of scenario where every small town in the USA says, 'This could never happen here,'" Peters said.

Not only were the victims current and former students, but some were the children or grandchildren of school staff, he said.

Van Cleve called the situation "very difficult" for his deputies and the community.

Bud Evans, an elder at Praise Chapel Community Church, said relatives of some of the victims of the shooting were gathering at his church.

Evans said watching members of the community suffer left him with "a helpless feeling."

Karly Johnson, 16, told AP she knew the shooter.

"He was nice. He was an average guy -- normal. You wouldn't think he could do that," Johnson said.

She said he had helped her in a class and had graduated with her brother. Peters, however, said he could not confirm whether the shooter graduated from Crandon High.

Marci Franz lives two houses south of the duplex where the shootings occurred.

"Initially, it sounded almost like a hammer on tin," Franz told CNN affiliate WJFW. "It was loud enough to wake me, but I wasn't sure it was gunshots."

The state attorney general's office will investigate the case, Van Cleve said.
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Kevin St. John, a spokesman for the state Department of Justice, said the agency's criminal investigation unit routinely investigates cases of a "statewide or significant nature."

Van Cleve called the situation "very difficult" for his officers and the community.